21 years on, weary grandmother sees wheel of fate turn full circle

Hajr Al Hassanat saw the colonists come and she saw the colonists go. She still remembers the day they arrived 21 years ago.

"When they came we were scared," said the 72-year-old. "Where the settlement [colony] is now there was a little forest where I used to go every day and collect wood. One day they shot in the air and told me not to come again, but after a while I did go back. After two years the fence [wall] was built and I never went back.''

Last week she watched the Jews of Netzarim drive away forever. "I watched them leaving from the rooftop and I thought that now peace will come and life will be good."

Her daughter-in-law, Nahaya, was more cautious.

"Until now we can't really believe that it's happened,'' she said. She is looking forward fervently to the departure of the soldiers who protected the colony, expected in the coming weeks.

"Then the shooting will be over and the road will be open and we can sleep at ease."

Nahaya, 32, is not expecting much from Gaza's changed circumstances for her and her husband and three children.

"I don't think the Palestinian [National] Authority will improve the economic situation," she said. "We want a good government. Hamas is better but they bring war."

As the shadows creep over the sand the old lady's earlier flicker of optimism fades. "Peace will only come when the Jews leave all Palestine. We want to go back to Beersheva."